So I realize I tend to use the word various quite a bit, so instead I figured I would just compile some of the news items on Friday instead.  I will also have a more in-depth look at some of the skirmish news a little bit later this evening, with a video update as well.

First off, part of the down-time this week was not only to update the game but the Lorebook as well.  I’m not going to go into too much detail as Casual Stroll to Mordor already did a good write up on it.  But essentially it was not only a behind the scenes update but an update of the data as well to keep up with all the Mirkwood changes.  The full release notes can be found on the Lorebook itself.

One of the biggest current outstanding issues (at least for us that group/tank) is regarding the tactical crit rating not allowing heals to crit.  This has moved from the ignored to the acknowledged.  For more info on the issue (I’ve mentioned it previously as well) here’s a link to the forums discussion as well as Sapience’s post on the issue. No info on when this will get fixed, but it is good to see they know and agree it is an issue.

Also this week, Rain’s grouping guide received a significant overhaul after taking into account comments and suggestions from a group of folks including myself.  It is a very good guide and I still found things that were helpful for me.  Check it out here as well as the link in my LOTRO section of my links.

And finally, I’ve posted my UIs a few times but here’s a pretty good thread on the live boards that talks about how to set up your UI to best allow for good tanking.  Some nice suggestions in there regarding camera angle and other distractions that can be eliminated.  Probably the best advice in this thread is that you should have under Combat Options “Show the Vitals of your Targets Selection” enabled at all times for a tank.  And actually, it is helpful for everyone to use this option as it shows either who another player is targeting or who has agro on the mob you’re targeting.